The northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia was declared a disaster zone on Wednesday amid relentless Israeli strikes and a total siege that has shattered the infrastructure.
“We declare that the city is a disaster area due to the Israeli war of extermination and siege, and it has no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services, or communications,” the Beit Lahia municipality said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera.
The declaration came a day after an Israeli attack on a single residential building in Beit Lahia killed at least 109 Palestinians, including over two dozen children, and wounded many more. On Wednesday, WAFA reported at least 14 civilians were killed by fresh Israeli shelling of the city.
Beit Lahia has been under a complete siege since early October as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign Israel is attempting to carry out in northern Gaza, known as the “general’s plan.” The Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia has also come under attack, leaving it unable to treat wounded Palestinians.
Rescuers with Gaza’s Civil Defense have also been unable to operate in Beit Lahia. “Whoever is injured just lies there on the ground, and whoever is killed can’t be transported, except by mule-drawn cart,” Dr. Eid Sabbah of Kamal Adwan Hospital told Al Jazeera.
Israeli strikes were reported across other parts of Gaza on Wednesday. Seven people were reported killed by Israeli strikes on two houses in the southern city of Khan Younis, and six were killed in central Gaza in two separate attacks on tents sheltering displaced Palestinians.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said in its daily death toll update, which it releases about mid-day, that at least 102 Palestinians were killed and 287 were wounded by Israel’s assault in the previous 24-hour period. The ministry counts bodies that are brought to hospitals and morgues and doesn’t account for Palestinians missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
The ministry said the latest violence brings its death toll since October 2023 to 43,163 and the number of wounded to 101,510. A group of American healthcare workers who volunteered in Gaza have estimated the US-backed Israeli campaign has killed at least 118,908 Palestinians, a total that accounts for indirect deaths caused by the siege.
All these genocidal massacres are done with US bombs and weaponry. White House is guilty!
Truly complicit.
Not mere complicity: main actor. Israel does nothing without White House approval, not anything this level anyhow. The true genocider is the USA, Israel is just the goons.
Indeed – from the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription and the IDF crying that its forces are "kneeling" under the struggle (to exterminate civilians, in three regions), to news that the US funds 80% of the ASI war effort, to word that the IDF is "exhausted" from Gaza yet expected to fight on "seven fronts" …
It seems clear the Apartheid State of Israel either vastly underestimated its own capabilities OR safely assumed the USA would act in lockstep no-questions-asked.
I don’t think Israel is autonomous: the current genocide was agreed in 2017 by Trump, Netanyahu and Bin Salman (revelations of Bin Farhan, reported at MEMO in June that year), with Al Sissi acting as clear sidekick. The ultimate goal was to build a second canal between Gaza and Eilat. The plan seemed to work as described by the Saudi exile: Egypt ceded Tiran islands to Saudia, just a few days later, without being asked, what makes the Gulf of Aqaba international waters, in October Bin Salman made his infamous purge, including the kidnapping of then President of Lebanon Hariri. However for some mystery reason (maybe Turkey was being too assertive?) it was delayed. Now it’s being implemented (and it’s probably not coincidence that Turkey was rescued from bankruptcy by the IMF and that Israel collaborated with the Armenian genocide of Artsakh last year).
Of course the USA-Israel have underestimated the resistance capability of a desperate people and they may have overestimated their own capabilities to actually perform genocide while the whole world watches and some (Yemen, etc.) even dare to contest that crime against Humanity with actual fight. The real problem USA-Israel have is that there’s too much resistance and the whole issue is playing on the hands of Iran (and more indirectly of Russia) and that they could well end up being defeated on the battlefield.
Somebody recently said: For the rest of my life, I don't want hear that the West cares about Human Rights. I disagree. They don't care about Human Life, altogether.